from cnn headquarters in atlanta, this is "cnn sunday morning." >> it's tragedy. it's tragedy for the nation. it's tragedy for the agency. >> a scandal unfolding on election day. we'll bring you details on the affair that brought down the most powerful spy chief in america. $7 trillion in tax increases and spending cuts, and the threat of another recession. that's the fiscal cliff that looms ahead, 51 days away. he's the all-time best selling novelist of hard cover fiction, but that's not his real passion. our exclusive interview with author james patterson. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning, everyone. i'm randi kaye. 7:00 on the east coast, 4:00 a.m. on the west.

we're learning much more about the end of the line for general petraeus. he stepped down as cia director two days ago after admitting to having an extramarital affair. now we know from a u.s. official that the affair came to light during an investigation into e-mails sent by petraeus's biographer paula broadwell. we also have a better timeline. james clapper was informed tuesday evening. the president was told thursday, hours before his face-to-face meeting with general petraeus. there are still questions about why congressional leaders weren't told until friday. but let's get back to general petraeus. an official tells cnn that james clapper encouraged petraeus to step down after learning of the affair. joining me now is rejeve from "the washington post." good morning to you. do you think general would have step dound if clapper hadn't

suggested it? >> good morning, randi. i think pe tratraeus faced withs investigation, faced with officials understanding what has occurred between him and his biographer paula broadwell was left with little choice. with everything i know, i think that resignation would have been something he likely would have suggested himself as well. >> you have written quite a bit about petraeus. how surprised were you when you heard this news? >> profoundly surprised. it didn't seem in character. petraeus was something nr than just a shrewd battlefield tactician, a very capable strategist. for the last several years, he

had fashioned himself as a leader of troops who spoke not just about courage on the battlefield but about personal character and virtue, and this was a man who held himself up and wanted the forces under him to hold themselves up to a higher standard. it really -- to all who know him -- and i've spoken to many individual wlos worked closely with him over the years over the last two days now. everybody expresses a degree of shock. this was not something that people said, oh, yeah, i saw this coming or, yeah, it was only matter of time. everybody i've spoken to has just been in disbelief. >> some have also, rajiv, have questioned whether it's really possible the obama administration didn't know about the investigation until tuesday. what's your take on that? >> well, there's more to learn

over here. i know there are a lot of conspiracy theories floating around, particularly given that last tuesday was the presidential election. this coming week brings hearings into the depths of u.s. government personnel in benghazi, libya, obviously with the connection to the cia. this investigation, we do know had been going on for some months. there are some reports that there was some frustration at the fbi and perhaps even a complaint by a member of that fbi team to republican staffers on capitol hill. all of that is still preliminary at this point, but certainly the next days are going to bring additional questions as to when officials started to learn how high up this went, how high up in the fbi and the justice

department did that investigation go in terms of authorizing the examination, the e-mails, and why, for instance, director clapper didn't know earlier and why perhaps the president was not briefed earlier on this. >> all right. rajiv chandrasekaran. appreciate your time this morning. from "the washington post." we thank you. today we honor veterans on this day. parades and services are held across the country to remember all chose who served. don't forget to thank them for their extraordinary sacrifices today. president obama will pay tribute to them later this morning. he'll lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at arlington national cemetery.

a familiar challenge for the folks in washington, how to fix the u.s. economy. with just 51 days until the so-called fiscal cliff, will president obama and congress be able to bridge the divide and find a solution? cnn's athena jones takes a closer look at what's at stake. >> it's time to get back to work. >> reporter: with the election in the rear view mirror, the focus in washington is back on efforts to avoid the economically devastating fis cat cliff. if we just go over the cliff and let those policies stake in effect, we're basically going to undo the recovery. neither party wants to be blame for that. the cliff amounts to $7 trillion in cuts and tax increases over the next decade. the threat of these painful cuts set to begin on january 1st is part of the deal the congress and the president made last year to force them to agree on a long-term deficit reduction plan. >> this is an unprecedented scenario that congress has basically put a gun to its oven

head who's said if we don't act, we're going to shoot ourselves. >> so far that long-term plan hasn't materialized. the biggest chunk? the bush-era tax cuts. cuts for families make y ies ma $50,000 or more must end. >> if we're serious, we have to combine spending cuts with revenue. that meaning asks the wealthiest americans to pay a little more in taxes. >> reporter: republicans they will hurt the government. >> it won't help us solve the problem. >> reporter: but the speaker also signaling what could be an opening saying raising more revenue is now on the table as long as it comes from tax reform and not higher rate. one thing that's clear, lawmakers want the president to be involved in any demaking. >> i think it's important for us to come to an agreement with the president but this is his opportunity to lead.

>> reporter: and taxes aren't the only hang-up. congress has to also figure out,000 spend money on entitlements like social security and medicare, the democrats' sacred cows. finding that ee lewis ivg common ground could be tough both in the lame duck session and beyond. a short-term deal that postpones the cliff appears most likely. >> give everybody a little bit of time, breathing room to get back next year. in the meantime think about what and exactly how you want to do this and give everyone time to negotiate, quite frankly. >> reporter: it's sure to be a long and rocky road ahead. friday the president hosts a meeting with both parties at the white house. randi? >> athena jones, thank you very much. now that marijuana is legal for recreational use in two states, how safe really is it and what can pot do for your health that other medications can't? our chief medical correspondent

dr. sanjay gupta will weigh in. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing.

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voters in two states voted to legalize mann. not for medicinal questions but

purely recreation. two questions remain. is marijuana safe and more effective than other drugs. i asked cnn medical correspondent sanjay gupta what this drug can do and what it cannot. >> there are plenty of studies looking at longer term use particularly for adults, particularly if you smoke it. overall the safety data has been pretty effective. nausea, increasing appetite in people who have hiv aids or getting chemotherapy, so there's ooh different uses. now they're saying with regard to pain in particular, and it's a pain called neuropathic pain. that's that sort of pins and needles, stinging pain in your arms and legs. that type of pain is hard to treat. i can tell you we get patients like this at the hospital all the time. this appears to be possibly a good medication to treat that where other things is have not worked or in combination with opioid medication.

so there is some use for it where the need has not been met so far. >> that is some good news. >> yeah. >> what about the new legislation? how will it work and do you think some doctors might have some challenges with this new law? >> you know, it's funny. in l.a. county a number of years ago, they estimated there are more marijuana dispensaries than liquor stores. the way it's supposed to work is the patient goes to the doctor. if they meade one of the indications, you know, things that we talk about that marijuanaprescribed for, they can get a prescription and dispensary card. you take the card and get your marijuana. the thing about the conditions is they have several of those things listed but then they have at the bottom other conditions that the physician thinks marijuana could be helpful with and that obviously leaves it much wider open and think that's one of the things that critics of this have been raising. >> yeah. it's sort of confusing, i think. >> it's not very -- there's not

a lot of guidelines here because you leave so many open areas where people can scriprescribe . the question is does it get abused. i think that's where the debate goes. >> what about the news that there's this type of marijuana being grown in israel that has all the medicinal benefits but doesn't get you high. >> right. >> what do you nobody this? >> for some idea there's been an idea of juicing the marijuana plant, taking out the juices of the plant and particularly a substance known as cbd. thc is what gets people high. when they juiced the plants they found it could still have significant medicinal benefits. in israel they're creating these plants that have higher dosage of the cbd for this express purpose. thc itself does have some medical properties but you can get a lot as you point out from

other parts of the plant and that's what's happening over there. that's controversial over there. it's like the third rail. >> i guess we'll see where this is going. >> cool. i'll be back. we'll talk more. >> okay. sanjay, thank you. >> thank you. tyler perry breaks away from his comfort zone playi ining ma and steps into the world of cross. creator james patterson tells us why he loves working with tyler perry. and in this week's travel, we get a special tour of the market in jerusalem. >> jerusalem is an old city of culture. this is where you're going to find the real tastes and smells of israel. outside the market you have the freshest fruits and vegetables. the produce in this country is really incredible. and inside the market they have

all these breads and sweets and dried fruits and nuts and all these great nibbly things. there's an alley of restaurants where people can come and eat lunch. but the thing i like most is you can find israelis and palestinians from all walks of life. everyone can agree on one thing. good food. elise labott, cnn, jerusalem.

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tyler perry has a new character in his life and his name is alex cross. >> let me see your hands. let me see your hands. put down the gun. put down the weapon now. do it now. is this what you want to die doing? drop the gun? >> there would be no alex cross, of course, without american author and novelist james patterson. his books have sold an estimated 260 million worldwide and writing isn't the only thing that he has dedicated his life to. he sat down and told our nadia bilchik his real passion. >> welcome. it's great pleasure to see you again albeit virtually this time. >> thank you, thank you, thank you. >> so tyler perry has been interviewed great deal recently and he said there's only one reason for doing "alex cross" the movie. it's because of you. for you, why tyler perry? >> one reason is tyler perry. i love working with him.

he's talented, devoted, and hard-working. i love alex cross. he's hard-working. unbelievably talented. he says what he's going do. that's why he was terrific in the movie. he went out of character. he did something that was -- that stretched him, which i applaud. and i think that people -- you know, most people have seen the movie. i think he did a great job. >> first of all, has he seen the movie? what did the think of it? >> he thought it was good. he's like most people. he found it very intense and very entertaining, and he thought -- he thought tyler did a very good job. he thought matthew fox was great too. >> i'm always intrigued by you. you have the ability to get into the head of a detective, psychopath, a middle schooler and now recently a teenager who's been accused of murdering her parents. why don't you tell us a bit

about that book. >> yeah. "confessions of a murder suspect." it's very interesting. it's the first book i've written for teenagers, so that's very different. it seems to be a book that both adults and kids enjoy because it's a very twisty murder mystery that involves the murder of two parents in a household and the four suspects are the children. >> you are in the "guinness book of world records" as the best-selling hard cover noveltyist of fiction and yet you say that's not what your real passion is. what is it? >> i write a lot of kids' books and that's really my passion. >> how can we get our kids to read more. >> look. if you're watching and you're a parent or grand parent, you have to understand if your kid isn't reading, you've got to take a lot of the fault.

people always say i can't get my kid to read. i say, can you get them to the dinner table. they say yes. i say then you get them to read. >> james patterson, thank you. i think i've red 20 or so of your books. running out of patience as power outages continue after superstorm sandy. we'll tell you just how many are still living in the dark. ♪ you make me happy when skies are gray ♪ [ female announcer ] you know exactly what it takes to make them feel better. ♪ you make me happy [ female announcer ] that's why you choose children's tylenol. the same brand your mom trusted for you when you were young. ♪ how much i love you [ humming ] [ female announcer ] children's tylenol, the #1 brand of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade. [ humming ]

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it was retaliation for a mortar shell that hit near a post. the israeli border isn't too far from damascus. israel's military says they've issued a complaint through united nations as well. and the other big story we're following. new details now. on the resignation of cia director general david petraeus. james clapper was informed tuesday evening, election night. then the president was told thursday. with also know the fbi investigation was triggered by harassing eames senl by his biographer paula broadwell to another woman close to him. on a lighter note let's turn to politics and "saturday night live" for some laughs. >> i still love you merks,ameri do, but you've hurt my feelings very, very much. >> father --